Tag: Cian Cowley

Cian Cowley wasted no time in getting his second professional win last Friday at Brave 18, held in Manama, Bahrain. The Ireland representative overwhelmed Hardeep Rai with a barrage of leg kicks, eventually crumbling his opponent for a first-round TKO, the second in his Brave Combat Federation career. And right after the fight, Cowley revealed he wanted to compete one more time in 2018.Continue reading “Report: Cian Cowley looks for a quick turnaround after Brave 18 win”→

It was a night to remember for Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady as he became Brave’s undisputed lightweight champion after an injury forced Lucas “Mineiro” to tap out during the first round of their Brave 18 main event.

“The Pride of Palestine” was on point with his striking, heavy pressure and persistent straight punches. When the Jordanian phenom closed the distance and got a takedown, Mineiro’s knee gave out and he was forced to tap out, relinquishing his interim title in the process.

In the co-main event, Stephen Loman was able to nullify the challenger Felipe Efrain’s offence throughout a tense five-round battle, maintaining his bantamweight crown and becoming the first-ever Brave champion to successfully defend his belt twice.

The flyweight title bout was another five-round battle, as Marcel Adur had good moments to close the show and become the first-ever divisional champion. In the end, he had to settle for a decision loss against Velimurad Alkhasov. Since the Russian powerhouse didn’t make weight, the belt remains vacant and both men will most likely rematch in the near future.

Elsewhere, there were landmark TKO wins for Bahrain’s Hussain Ayyad and McGregor teammate, Cian Cowley, as they dominated Mohamed Abo Ali and Hardeep Rai, respectively, finishing them in the first round.

In the main card opening bout, Luan “Miau” Santiago returned to the Brave cage with a flawless and tactical victory, as the one-time title challenger outpointed a tough and resilient Djamil Chan to get back to winning ways for Brave.

A little under a week after the events of UFC 229, there has been a lot to take in. Conor McGregor’s loss, as well as all of the out-of-cage brawl, has become one of the biggest talking points of UFC history.

One particular event that has caused a real split of opinion is the decision by the UFC to pull Zubaira Tukhugov from his scheduled fight with McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov after his actions in the skirmish after the UFC 229 main event.

If you have been living under a rock for the last week and require a recap, Tukhugov was one of the three guys that set upon McGregor inside the cage after his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Since all is said and done, the UFC made the decision to pull Tukhugov from his next fight and state that he will never compete under the UFC banner again. This has caused a split in opinion inside the MMA community, where some call for the UFC to reconsider and allow Tukhugov to stay on their roster.

One of these sympathisers is BRAVE CF owner Khaled Hamad Alkhalifa. In a recent Instagram post, Alkhalifa defends Tukhogov and offers him an open invitation to their roster.

A post shared by Khaled (@khaled_hamad_alkhalifa) on Oct 11, 2018 at 2:44pm PDT

Brave CF is currently the largest middle eastern promotion and is ever growing. This is surely a sufficient safety net for Tukhogov should the UFC stick to their guns and he is expelled from the promotion.

As a side note, Conor McGregor’s loyal teammate that was charged with McGregor for the New York bus incident, Cian Cowley is also on the Brave CF books. Should Tukhogov decide to make a change and head to the Bahrainian based promotion, this could be one hell of a fight to make, with both fighters having unquestionable loyalty to either side.

Since the UFC’s decision, Khabib Nurmagomedov has issued a statement advising that he will not fight in the UFC unless Tukhogov is reinstated. As of this moment, the UFC is yet to respond and both sides are locked in a stalemate.

McGregor initially appeared in court on April 6th alongside SGB teammate Cian Cowley to answer to three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief. Both fighters were released after each posted $50,000 bail.

Both McGregor and Cowley entered the court room at approximately 3pm UK time with the hearing lasting just a couple of minutes.